Hey gang! Well, this week has been decent. Today, I went to the doctor for my allergies. I have bad ones to the spring, mostly due to tree pollen. Anyways, she subscribed to me some medicine, which I hope helps. We'll see, I suppose. Other than that, nothing really new in my personal life.
Writing wise, things are moving along like always. So, no worries there.
Last time, Illidan and Kevin began facing off, with Kevin taking an early lead, only to have Illidan begin a comeback. Now Illidan faces the Five God Dragon, which could present him with a problem. Can Illidan win still, or is this the end of him?
It's Review Time!
Metal Overlord 2.0: Very true, FGD hasn't been seen in forever. Hmm, I can't remember if it was ever in any of my stories. I don't think it was, unless one of the Big Five played it way back in ToP. Yep, the tournament is moving along nicely, with the first winner not too surprising. It would have been fun to have Jim and Axel mixing things up, but oh well. I think Axel more so than Jim, lol. His deck is odd and unpredictable, but Axel's is very nice. Feel free to PM me that idea you had about Arya's Duel Spirit. I'm glad you like this story thus far, and I hope you continue to. Thanks for the review!
Aelsthla-Mental: LOL! Yeah, Illidan needs to focus on who is in front of him and not about who was Viper's master at the moment. I probably meant isn't, lol. Glad you liked the five heads comment, lol. Thanks for the review!
Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Kevin is presenting Illidan with quite a challenge. Yes, I had forgotten, lol. The episode was pretty decent, although they again clipped out some parts… I hope you did well on the SAT's. I do hope that 4Kids keeps Axel slamming into Haou also. It was a very nice looking scene. We'll see though. Thanks for the review!
x-knight20: Thanks. Glad you got to read both. Yep, a dragon deck, hehe. Dragons are pretty cool. I used to play them, but gave them up eventually. I miss them, lol. Thanks for the review!
Vyser Dragoon: Lol, yeah, Jaden sometimes does get a bit carried away with his speeches, but that's Jaden for you, lol. Never know what will happen in 5D's, heh. Eh, I may use the 5D's cards, but I don't know. I've not seen it yet, so we'll see. Thanks for the review!
Nathan: Lol, true, Chazz shouldn't be commenting that Illidan will lose, especially since he lost to him the year before, hehe. Very true, Kevin had a good start. Dragon decks are fun, although I never played Dragun, but it can thrash someone, that is for sure. I've taken a beating first hand and can say that for sure, lol. Yes, cliffhangers are always fun, hehe. Thanks for the review!
Raymond Barrett: Yep, it's turning out to be a good duel. It's cool about being speechless, lol. Thanks for the review.
Thank you all for your reviews. They mean a lot. And to any who have not reviewed, but have comments or questions, please, don't hesitate to review or PM. I'm more than happy to answer them, so long as they don't reveal the plot.
Ah yes, I had a challenge for everyone. Answer me this question and I will post an extra chapter in that person's honor tomorrow. What is tomorrow to me?
Well, I'm done for today, so enjoy!
Chapter 12
"It's been a blast Illidan, but this duel is over. You only have 300 life points, so no matter which monster of yours I choose to attack, this duel is done." Kevin smugly remarked.
Looking between the machine dragon and the mage, Kevin smirked and pointed at the mage, saying "That mage is your favorite, so I'll destroy him. It's been fun, but all things come to an end! Go Five God Dragon, end this by attacking his Dark Magician of Chaos with Five Element Strike!"
Each of the five heads roared loudly and took aim at the weaker mage. Opening each of their five jaws, each dragon formed a different element in each of their mouths, which began spilling out. The bluish head had water, the fiery one with flames, the dark one with dark energy, the light one with glowing white energy, and finally the steel one with brownish energy. Together, the five heads shot a stream of their energy at the weaker mage, who stared at the blast with wide eyes.
Watching the blast rushing towards the mage, Marie cried out "Illidan!"
Hearing his wife, Illidan glanced up at the stands where she sat, seeing worry and fear on her face. Softly smiling, he returned his vision to the duel and called out "I'm not that easy to beat Kevin! I play a spell, Emergency Provisions! With this, I can sacrifice spell and trap cards from my field and gain a 1000 life points per a card. I'll banish three, so Mirage of Nightmare, Elemental Absorber, and Future Fusion are all three going to my Graveyard while I gain 3000 life points."
Taking all three cards out of their slots, Illidan placed the three into his Graveyard Slot and watched while the three vanished from the field in a glow of golden sparkly energy. The machine dragon instantly roared out due to this and vanished as well.
"Unfortunately, when Future Fusion vanishes from the field, the monster that was summoned by it is destroyed, meaning I just lost my Cyber End Dragon." Illidan explained. "But it's a small price to pay, since I'm now going to survive this blast!"
Glaring at Illidan, Kevin smugly remarked "Not a problem with me, but this duel will end soon! Finish that mage my dragon!"
The stream of five energies continued on and struck the blue skinned mage with extreme force, making him cry out in loud pain. Part of the blast bypassed the mage and struck Illidan directly, making him scream as well.
In his mind, Illidan called to the mage, whispering "I'm sorry Dark Magician of Chaos that I couldn't protect you. It was never my intention on losing you."
An image of the mage appeared within his mind, with the mage sadly smiling. "It's alright my Master. What is done is done. We will win though, I swear it!"
"As do I." Illidan vowed.
Leaving his mind, Illidan fell to one knee, panting heavily. With difficulty, he tried to stand up, but found he couldn't due to the lack of strength. Once more trying to stand, he managed to get to his feet, but wobbled greatly. Steadying himself, he fully stood up, but was still panting heavily.
Smirking at his handiwork, Kevin calmly said "I think you've suffered enough for this turn. I'll place this card face down to end my turn, but next turn, I'll put you out of your misery." (Kevin 3600, Illidan 1100)
Staring down at the field, Jaden lightly growled, mumbling "Come on Illidan…"
"Professor Stormrage…" Alexis lowly murmured while squeezing Jaden's hand.
Watching her uncle pant still, Mariah whispered "Come on, I know you can do this Uncle Illidan."
"Commander Stormrage is definitely in trouble, but it's nothing he can't handle!" Hasselberry declared, only to add "I hope…"
"It's over. That bum has lost to the pro." Chazz remarked.
Ignoring Chazz, Bastion calmly said "I calculate that Professor Illidan has a chance still, but it's very slim. If he manages to pull this off, it will be a surprise. Nothing in his deck can compete with that monster."
"I'll agree with you there Bastion." Jesse remarked. Smiling, he added "But I have to say, since watching the Professor duel, I gotta believe he'll pull this one out."
"He'll need a miracle draw to pull it out now." Axel grunted out.
"Yeah, and even that may not help." Adrian added with a glum voice.
Confidently, Jaden cut in, saying "He'll win. Just watch guys."
The group all looked at Jaden with curious eyes to why he had so much confidence, but all returned their gaze soon enough to the field. Meanwhile, Marie only looked down at Illidan with worry filled eyes.
"That last attack took so much out of him. Illidan, please, be strong! I know you can do this, with all my heart I know you can!"
On the field, Illidan's panting finally calmed and he began to lightly chuckle. Finally, his chuckling grew into laughter as he glanced up at Kevin, who gave him a clueless stare.
Smirking, Kevin tauntingly asked "Are you so afraid of your loss that you resort to hiding it with laughter!?"
"No, I'm just happy due that this duel is so much fun. Right now, I'm having the time of my life. Plus, I have a strategy to win this thing." Illidan remarked with a smile.
Once more smirking, Kevin confidently replied "Oh yeah? Well then, explain how you plan on winning? You have no monsters with enough attack points to even match my dragon, not to mention, your life points are severely depleted."
"I have a plan, trust me." Illidan confidently stated. Drawing his card, he calmly said "Allow me to show you! I play the spell Chaos Revisited! First, I pay half my life points, then I can special summon any monster with the word 'Chaos' or 'Envoy' in it's name from my deck, hand, Graveyard, or removed from play pile to the field. I choose my removed from play pile, so welcome back Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"
Reappearing instantly onto the field was the black leather clad mage with blue skin. He swung his staff defiantly downwards and glared at the powerful five headed dragon before him.
"Next up, my mage's effect kicks in, allowing me to take a spell from my Graveyard and place it back into my hand. The one I'm choosing is this, my Emergency Provisions!"
Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, Illidan waited for the card to slide out, which did soon enough. Picking it up, he placed it within his left hand and softly smirked. "Now then, I remove from play one of my Cyber Dragons and Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive from my Graveyard in order to special summon this, the beginning of your end! Meet Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"
Materializing onto the field was a warrior covered in black armor from head to toe, except for his face, which was the shade of light green, with long brown hair that fell down his back in a braid. In his right hand was a bronze colored sword and in his left was a powerful black shield.
"Want more, then check this out! I activate the spell card Chaos Fusion, allowing me fuse my two Chaos monsters together to form a new one!"
Both the mage and the warrior nodded to one another and leapt into the air together. The two began to instantly glow with bright aura's, with the mage's being a black one and the warrior a white one. Instantly, the two auras swirled together, seemingly getting rid of the warrior and mage. From the swirl came a new creature, this one that looked similar to the mage without his hat, allowing his long flowing black hair to fall down his back. He wore armor similar to the warrior's, but it was white and gold now, with the gold mostly accenting the joints. At his right side, he held a sharp lance in one hand.
"Meet my newest Chaos monster, my Dark Chaos Soldier – Envoy of Heaven (3400/2900)!" Illidan declared with pride.
Staring at the new monster, Kevin scoffed "There is nothing special about him. Don't forget, my dragon has the most points right now, meaning your little mage is outgunned. Plus, my monster can only be destroyed in battle by a Light Attribute monster."
"I happen to be in luck then." Illidan remarked wistfully. "My Dark Chaos Soldier is a Light Attribute monster. Still, you are right, right now, he's no match, but don't count him out yet! He has a very special ability! Once summoned, I can take a monster from either of our Graveyards and equip it to my warrior. He then gains that monster's points."
"Wait, it can get stronger!?" Kevin's shaky voice asked while a drop of sweat slid down the side of his face.
Nodding, Illidan replied "Sure can, so watch this! I activate Dark Chaos Soldier's effect and I equip an old friend from my Graveyard to him! Cyber End Dragon, lend your strength to Dark Chaos Soldier (3400 + 4000 7400/2900 + 2800 5700)!"
Appearing behind the powerful warrior was the large machine dragon, except in a transparent form. Letting out a loud roar, the dragon began sending it's energy to the warrior in a stream of white energy, making the warrior let out a loud cry. Once the stream finished, the dragon vanished, but the warrior pulled his lance up into an attacking stance.
"Dark Chaos Soldier, attack Five God Dragon with Chaos Lance Slash!"
Letting out a battle cry, the warrior rushed forward with lance held tightly to his side. Leaping high into the air, the warrior made a side slash through the air. From the slash, a blade of pure white energy went forward. The blade slashed through each of the five heads of the mighty dragon, making each head howl out in pain before shattering. The main body of the dragon then tumbled to the ground with a thunderous crash, leaving Kevin in complete shock.
Staring at the ground with clenched fists, Kevin lowly growled and finally snarled "You won't beat me Illidan! I hope your last turn was worth it, because you're going down now!"
"Who said I was done?" Illidan questioned while his warrior landed in front of him. Pulling a spell card from his hand, he showed it to Kevin and smartly said "I'm just getting warmed up, for now I activate Emergency Provisions, allowing me to sacrifice the equip card to my warrior (7400 – 4000 3400/5700 – 2800 2900), and gain a 1000 life points!"
The spell card instantly dissolved the equip card, making the warrior's body glow lightly while his power drained away.
Completely confused, Kevin asked "What is up with you!? Why sacrifice your equip card to gain points!? Afraid you'll take a big hit!?"
"Not at all." Illidan confidently remarked. "You see, when I destroyed my Dark Chaos Soldier's equip card just now, I did it on purpose. His second special ability just activated due that I used Emergency Provisions. When his equip card is destroyed in battle, he's allowed to attack a second time."
"Wait…" Kevin mumbled. "That means…"
"That means it's game Kevin. Dark Chaos Soldier, direct attack with Chaos Lance Slash!"
Charging forward, the powerful warrior in white armor slashed Kevin across the chest with his lance, dropping Kevin instantly to his hands and knees while panting hard. His life points quickly drained away to zero, making his Duel Disk power down.
"Ladies and gents, we have a winner! I give you Illidan Stormrage!" Pegasus called out over the microphone.
Slightly smiling at the cheers from the crowd, Illidan walked over to Kevin and kneeled down to the young man. Softly smiling once more, he said "You did well. That was a great duel."
Kevin looked up at Illidan with a slight smile and replied "Thanks. You were great too. We'll have to do that again sometime."
"Anytime." Illidan responded with a smile. Standing up, he offered a hand, which Kevin graciously took. Fully on his feet once more, Kevin shook Illidan's hand. The crowd only roared louder over the handshake.
--
The remainder of the evening was filled with incredible performances. In Joey and Yugi's duel, Joey pulled out an early lead by playing Gilford the Lightning and managing to take away all of Yugi's monsters in a single turn. Yugi rallied back though and managed to in the end summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, allowing him to take the win, but not before congratulating his friend on his hard fought duel.
Zane and Seto's duel was intense, with each playing their cards wisely. Zane started out slow, with Seto taking up the lead and holding it firmly by summoning a pair of Blue-Eyes White Dragons. With the two on the field, he kept his commanding presence till Zane finally managed to summon his Cyber Twin Dragon with the help of his Power Bond, allowing him to take the CEO down a peg. Down but not out, Seto fired back with his own XYZ-Dragon Cannon, only to have it destroyed when Zane summoned his Cyber End Dragon. Not one to be outdone, the slick CEO responded by playing his own three headed dragon, his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, only to replace it with his Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. The powerful dragon unleashed all it's power and destroyed the mighty three headed machine dragon to win the duel. At the end, the two respectfully shook hands, with Seto even revealing a small smile, which Zane did likewise.
With the duels over, the field was set for the Semi-Finals, which featured two sets of rematches that the students were excited about. The first rematch was Illidan vs. Marie, and the second rematch was a legendary one of Seto vs. Yugi. Both duels looked promising to all that eagerly wanted to watch the married couple fight, while most wanted to see a rivalry as almost as old as Duel Monsters itself repeat once more.
--
Late that night, a small group made their way to Yugi's home. Yugi, Illidan, Marie, Joey, Seto, Pegasus, Jaden, Alexis, Chazz, and Zane all met up and sat around in the living room. Tea and Mai had elected to entertain Yoshi and Arya while the group talked.
Sitting on the couch beside of Marie, Illidan finally spoke up. "Whatever Chaos Emperor Dragon and I felt today, I'm sure it has to do with Viper's so called master. Whoever it was that was ordering Viper to prey on the students is still around, I'm willing to bet."
"Yeah, but who?" Joey asked. "I mean, there are a lot of duelists and students still on the island."
"Not to mention, there could be people out there like how Viper was." Marie piped up.
The entire group all nodded and let out a sigh. After a moment of silence, Zane stood up and began striding towards the door, earning many looks of confusion.
"Where you off to Zane?" Yugi asked softly.
Looking back, Zane muttered "To look for Syrus."
Watching the young man walk out the door of the house, Marie sadly said "Poor Zane, he just won't give it up."
"I know. He keeps going out there nightly." Seto remarked. "If that was Mokuba lost, I guess I would probably do the same thing."
Part of the group looked at the CEO with confused looks, making him scowl at the group and ask "What?"
"You're so different from the old Kaiba we used to know and hate." Joey spoke up with a smirk.
Glaring at Joey, Seto roared "Would you like this Kaiba to kick your butt!"
"Bring it on rich boy!" Joey bantered back.
Heavily sighing, Illidan rubbed his temples and groaned. "Not this again…"
Giggling lightly at Illidan, Marie called out "I got five bucks on Joey!"
"I'll put twenty on Seto!" Yugi declared, earning him a shocked look from Joey.
"YOU TRAITOR!" Joey growled out.
Shrugging, Yugi smirked and replied "I can't bet my money on an outside shot. Besides, I know you'd win. It's just to give you motivation."
"Yeah right… Thanks pal." Joey grumbled.
The younger students only looked between the adults, with Chazz lowly whispering to Alexis "And they say we're immature."
"Agreed." Alexis mumbled with a nod.
Smirking, Jaden chuckled and called out "I put ten bucks on Joey!"
Slapping her palm to her face, Alexis muttered "Why me…"
Looking to Jaden with a great big smile, Joey gave him a thumb's up and said "There's that confidence and support I was looking for!"
--
After another twenty minutes of light ribbing, the group finally concluded their talks and headed for their homes with instructions to keep a watch. Arriving home with Arya fast asleep, Illidan and Marie took their shoes off, with Marie taking Arya to their bedroom to be put down for the night. Laying Arya down into her crib, Marie bent over and kissed the small child on the forehead.
"Good night Arya." she lightly whispered.
Moving away from the crib, Marie returned downstairs to find her husband outside, staring up at the sky. Joining him, she embraced him from behind and glanced up at the clouds floating over the island.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked.
Lightly smiling, Illidan lowly replied "Just how things seem to be. It seems like no matter how hard we try, we're dragged into some kind of trouble always."
Snuggling into his back, she quietly said "I guess it's just the way things are."
"I guess…" he mumbled back. Turning around in her arms, he reached down and tilted her head back with his fingers gently. Staring into her chocolate colored orbs, he reached down and placed a light kiss onto her lips. Slowly, he deepened the kiss, asking for entrance into her mouth with his tongue, which she gladly gave. The two melted further into the kiss till finally Marie pulled back, lightly panting.
"We shouldn't with Arya alone inside…" she mumbled with a touch of sadness.
Groaning inside, Illidan rested his forehead against hers and mumbled with irritation "She'll be fine. We need time to ourselves."
Bristling with anger, Marie pulled free from his embrace and planted her hands on her hips. "You mean time for sex! That's all you think about! What about our daughter!? She needs us!" she fired off.
Knowing the situation was going to only grow uglier, Illidan charged in and said "Marie, our daughter is important to me too, but you are as well. Since she's been born, we have had hardly any time at all alone. In fact, I know we haven't spent any. Either she ends up crying or you spend all the time we have together worrying about her. You need to let her have a small bit of room to breathe."
"All you care about is what you want! Our daughter needs to come first!" Marie shouted.
"Marie, our daughter is very important, but in a marriage, it comes down to me and you first, then Arya." Illidan calmly explained.
Gnashing her teeth, Marie snarled "You're just selfish!"
Illidan was about to respond when the sound of Arya wailing from her crib came through the door Marie had left cracked open when she came out to see him. Marie immediately went running into the house to their bedroom, leaving Illidan to heavily sigh.
Deciding to be brave, he walked back inside, shutting the door behind him. Quietly, he crept up the stairway to the second floor and padded to their bedroom. There, Illidan found Marie rocking Arya gently in her arms. Arya was still lightly sobbing, but had quieted down somewhat.
Glaring at him when he entered, Marie hushed Arya lightly and rubbed her back gently, whispering "There, there, it's alright. Mommy's here now."
Sighing, Illidan blurted out "You're spoiling her."
Earning himself a fierce glare, Marie harshly remarked "She's just a baby Illidan! She needs protected and let known that she's loved!"
"She also needs to have a little independence." Illidan added, feeling as if he was criticizing himself already after all the times he had insisted on protecting Marie and not really entrusting her to her own protection.
"For crying out loud Illidan, she's just a baby!" Marie snarled. "She needs her mother and father constantly!"
"But not every minute of the day." Illidan remarked.
Seeing the argument was going nowhere and Arya was starting to whimper a bit more and threatening to throw a temper tantrum, Illidan calmly said "I have a suggestion to resolve this."
Throwing a glare at him, Marie growled out "What!?"
"We make a wager on the outcome of tomorrow's duel between me and you." he lightly explained. "If you win, I'll drop this issue and you can keep Arya in here in our room, allowing her to continue to disrupt our lives forever and ever."
Thinking on his words, Marie pondered rolled them over in her mind before finally asking "And if you win?"
"If I win, we move Arya into her room and allow her to sleep there at night, thus allowing me and you to have some alone time again. I'm not saying we ignore her completely, but we allow her to spend time alone in her own room, thus making time for me and you to spend together. It's not about the sex, it's about getting time alone." Illidan remarked.
Smirking slightly, he added "Although, the sex would help smooth things over a bit."
"You want me to abandon our baby just so we can have sex!? No way, not happening! Besides, that ugly room is no place for my baby!" Marie snarled.
Knowing how to get her to agree, Illidan challengingly asked "You're not even tempted to shut me up, huh? I mean, if you win, I have no choice but to accept your decisions over Arya being in our room. I'll even throw in remodeling the room myself."
Marie was about to fire back when she stopped. Pursing her lips together for a moment, her brow furrowed. After a moment, she finally sighed and smirked. With a cocky attitude, she replied "You know, having you shut up about Arya being in here would make life so much easier, not to mention getting rid of that ugly stuff Kaiba picked out for her room would be helpful. You're on, I accept your wager!"
"Good, then let's shake on it."
Taking her right hand, Marie offered it out, while Illidan did the same. The two shook hands and smirked at one another.
"When I win, you'll not gripe one time because you agreed to it. Plus you'll fix her ugly room into something bearable. I can't wait." Marie smugly remarked.
Smirking back at her, Illidan replied "We'll see my dear. I just can't wait to spend some alone time with you again."
With those words said, the two left one another's company to work on their decks.
--
Placing the last card on the table onto her deck, Marie let out a small sigh of relief. Ever since Illidan had made the wager earlier that night, she had worked on her deck after getting Arya calmed down and back to sleep. Looking over at the clock, she saw that it was already two in the morning, but she only shrugged.
Standing up, she stretched out her back and yawned lightly. Glancing down at her deck, she picked it up and smiled.
"This is going to be a tough duel, but I know my deck can win it for me. I just have to believe in myself, and that I can do this. I'll put Illidan in his place once I win." she mused.
"… It's not about the sex, it's about getting time alone."
Shaking her head, Marie tried to rid herself of Illidan's words from earlier. "I can't start letting my emotions cloud my thoughts now. He's somewhat right, but we can't displace Arya just like that. He needs to learn that she comes first, not us."
Heavily sighing, she leaned backwards once more while placing her hands on her butt. Stretching backwards, she leaned back upright and glanced out the window at the nearby Slifer Dorm. No lights were on, which was a good sign that everyone was asleep, as far as she knew.
Yawning once more, she walked over and placed her deck into it's holder and set it next to her Duel Disk. Gently sweeping Arya up into her arms, she walked off towards their bedroom for some much needed sleep.
--
Examining his cards carefully, Illidan laid another onto a stack of ones he had plans on including. Picking up one more, he looked at it closely and felt the monster's presence standing behind him in a transparent form, seemingly hovering over his shoulder to see what he was doing.
"Master, why are you looking through your deck so thoroughly?" the mage in black leather armor asked.
Lightly smiling, Illidan lowly said "I need to make sure my deck is ready for my duel tomorrow with Marie."
Frowning, the mage asked "But why are you so intensely looking through it? It's not like you to sit and ponder over it unless it's a big match, like last year with Jaden Yuki."
"I know, but I want to win tomorrow. I want to prove to Marie that we can love Arya very much, but at the same time, we need to love one another more." Illidan explained.
Laying down the card he held, he calmly added "Arya is precious to me, but Marie is more important to me. She always will be, and she seems to have forgotten we're to hold one another much closer to our hearts than our children. I want to remind her of that tomorrow in our duel."
"I see." the mage mumbled. "You love her and your child, but your deepest love is for her, not the child."
"It's complicated…" Illidan mumbled in reply. Pulling his hands behind his head, Illidan glanced at the ceiling while leaning back in his chair. "I deeply love both, but Marie is the mother of my children, thus I could never love our children more than her. It's important to us to keep that fact in our forefront."
Frowning lightly, the mage finally said "I guess I can see your point…"
"To me, and maybe only me, it's important. It's something Squall taught me, and I won't forget it. Perhaps my father even taught it to me, in a way. He loved my mother so much, but she didn't survive my birth. From the stories I had heard about them, I believe father truly would have died alongside of my mother that night when I was born if not for me."
"Humans are so confusing." the mage grumbled.
Lightly chuckling, Illidan teasingly asked "You just learning that now?"
"I knew it the day I met you, and am constantly reminded by it each and every day." the mage taunted back.
Laughing lightly, Illidan leaned back forward and picked up his cards once more. "I better finish up. It's getting late."
--
Picking up one last card, Illidan placed it on top of his deck and let out a sigh. "Finally, it's done." he mumbled.
Grabbing hold of his deck, he began shuffling it and then slid it into his deck holder. Setting the holder near his Duel Disk, he slightly smiled.
"Marie is going to have a tough time tomorrow." he quietly remarked.
Noting that the time was three in the morning, Illidan stood up and walked towards the upstairs. Both him and Marie had an office within their home to do private work, so he had taken his deck into his own to work on it while Marie had done the same with hers.
Going upstairs, he heard soft breathing coming from their bedroom. Walking in, he found Arya in her crib with her blanket pulled up to her chin. She had hold of it with her small hands, seemingly gripping it. Lightly smiling at the cute scene, he walked over and kissed the top of her head.
"Good night Arya. Daddy loves you." he said in a low whisper. Arya lightly stirred and seemingly burrowed deeper into her blanket.
Softly chuckling at the sight, he moved to the bed to find Marie with the covers pulled tightly around her. Removing all of his clothing except his boxers, Illidan climbed into bed behind Marie and pulled her into his arms. She had her back to him, so he wrapped his arms around her, holding the two of them together.
Kissing her neck, he whispered "I love you so much Marie. Good night."
A faint "Love you" was said back from Marie's form, but she was obviously asleep and oblivious to what he had really said. Softly smiling at this, he buried his nose into her hair and inhaled her scent. Resting his forehead against the back of her head, he yawned and closed his eyes before finally falling asleep.
--
Waking up the next morning, Illidan got up and prepared himself for the day before taking Arya downstairs with him and feeding her. She had been awake when he had finished preparing for the day, and was simply laying in her crib, seemingly glancing up at the ceiling.
Upon finishing up with feeding Arya, he laid her within her playpen and prepared breakfast for himself and Marie. Deciding to cook a larger breakfast, he fried up some hash browns, sausage links, over-easy fried eggs, biscuits, and gravy. Once he had finished fixing breakfast, he sat down and ate.
Finishing up, he noted Marie hadn't come downstairs yet, so he fixed her plate and put it within a serving tray. Making sure Arya would be fine for a little while, Illidan decided she'd be fine and picked up the food he had prepared. Walking upstairs with the food and orange juice, Illidan took it into their bedroom.
Finding Marie still asleep, he softly smiled. The thought of waking her up slightly irked him, but knowing she would want to be up, he set the food down on the night stand and gently sat down onto the bed.
"Marie…" he softly called in her ear.
She lightly groaned for a moment, but instead of waking up, she buried deeper into the covers. Stopping himself from chuckling, he again said "Marie, wake up."
Again she groaned, but this time turned towards him. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, revealing her chocolate orbs. Smiling down at her, he warmly said "Wake, wake sleepy head."
Yawning a bit, Marie sat up and looked over at the clock. "It's already ten?" she asked while stifling another yawn.
"Yes dear, it is. You were burning the midnight oil too I suppose?" Illidan questioned while moving her meal closer.
Shrugging, she replied "A little. What's for breakfast?"
Setting the tray down in front of her, he opened it to reveal her breakfast. Looking it over, Marie happily dug in. Chuckling lightly at her, Illidan sat off to the side and glanced at the window. The shades were drawn, even though the window faced the ocean. Deciding to not sit for too long, he walked outside onto the deck and stared off at the sea.
A few minutes later, Marie finished and joined him in her robe. "Is Arya alright this morning?"
"Yes, she's fine." Illidan responded with a small smile. "She's downstairs playing in her playpen. I already fed her."
Nodding with satisfaction, Marie let a sly smile cross her face, saying "You know, after tonight, you're going to have to not complain about how I do things with her."
"I know, but that's only if you win." Illidan remarked wryly.
Smirking, Marie replied ""We'll see about that. I'm going to go get ready for the day."
"Ok."